Poodle Dislikes Children

Question
I have two poodles, both are nine months. One is a poodle-
bichon mix. The other is a standard. Sometimes I help in a
friends hardware store and take the dogs with me. The
bigger poodle learned from the smaller one to be friendly
with all the customers, except for the children. The little
one remains friendly, while after a brief look over the big
standard becomes agitated. He starts barking and trying to
get away from me. I started keeping a leash near by so that
I can restrain him quickly, but he is so strong and loud it is
difficult. He sounds ferocious, but I have never seen him
hurt a fly. He also continues to wag his tail, which confuses
me.

Whatever advice you could provide would be appreciated.
Thank you  

Answer
Is he barking like he's going to attack or just because he's excited?  Either way, the best way I know to handle behavior modification is to get a squirt bottle full of water and when he does the inappropriate behavior, sprits him at the same time you say "No".  It isn't that they hate water - but it's humiliating to be sprayed - especially in the face and because you've been bad.  When he stops the bad behavior, praise him alot and give him a small training treat (at petsmart or petco - any pet store should have them).  

With mine, all I need to do is say "spray bottle" or reach for it and they settle down.  Then I praise them.  The praise needs to be more effusive than the correcting 'no' and the spray - as it should feed into his need to please you.  Another thing that works for some people is to shake a can (pop can, whatever) with pennies in it. It makes a nasty racket that is unpleasant to the dog's ears.  Same premise as the spray bottle.

I hope this helps some.  If not, you may want to enroll him in obedience classes to see if you can work with him in a training environment to curb the behavior.

Good luck!  Oh, and it takes patience. I know this because I have so little and must work hard to contain frustration sometimes.


Warmly,

Kathryn